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Sembach’s Tigers rally to stay perfect
GIRARD
Newton Falls took advantage of an early lead, but then lost it before battling back to beat Girard, 60-53, in an All-American Conference, Blue Tier conquest for the unbeaten Tigers.
“Good start,” Newton Falls coach Roy Sembach said simply of his team’s overall record of 5-0 and league record of 2-0.
Prior to Friday’s win over Girard, Newton Falls previously beat Blue Tier competitor Campbell.
Jaden Walton had a game-high 19 points, while Ben Simpson added 14 points. Both players had seven rebounds apiece of the winner’s 37 total rebounds.
Anthony Graziano and Darren Tiggett led Girard (1-3) with 17 and 15 points, respectively.
Sembach said that Girard was his team’s first true test.
“The first four [games] were easier than expected,” he said. “We really played well and won by sizable margins.”
Sembach had told his players before Friday’s game that “at some point — tonight or whenever — we’re going to face adversity and, boy, did we have to face adversity tonight.”
Sembach said his Tigers didn’t handle it well in the beginning but “we sure did in the end when we needed to, so this is a good game in which, I hope, our younger players grow a lot and become better because, to be a good team, you’ve got to play in tough situations and in close games when things aren’t going your way. At the end we regrouped and made enough plays to win.”
After Girard’s Durrrel Richardson made the game’s first five points, the home team fell behind by as many as 12 at 35-23 and didn’t see the lead again until going top, 46-42, on Tiggett’s basket with six minutes remaining.
Tiggett, a 6-4 senior who had 14 of Girard’s 30 rebounds, was filling in for starter Mike Guyer, who had early foul trouble.
“Not only did we get stops on defense, but we came up with a couple turnovers that turned into baskets,” Sembach said of contributions by players such as Walton, Joey Urso and Noah Suarez.
“We knew Girard was going to be a battle. [Before Friday] They already lost league games, so I knew they’d be aggressive and desperate. They played all 32 minutes and gave us everything they had.”
Girard coach Craig Hannon blamed “empty possessions” and “throwing the ball away” as reasons for Girard’s slow start when his team fell behind after eight minutes, 12-6.
“The possessions were empty and there weren’t a lot of good things,” he said. “We can’t continue to have turnover after turnover, missed free throws, missed bunnies.”
Both teams had 17 turnovers, but Girard’s came at crucial moments.
“We’ve had leads in all three games we’ve lost because we’re just figuring out how to win,” the Girard coach said. “One way to do that is to take care of the basketball every time your have it. We’re not doing that right now.”
Hannon expressed dismay that Girard has had four league games so far.
“It’s not even New Year’s yet. That’s ridiculous. It’s way too many league games this early.”
Sembach concurred.
“I don’t think we should play a league game until January and I’ve been saying that for years,” he said. “We are going through a stretch right now when we’re going to play four straight league games on the road. I don’t know how they do this — football has three or four non-league games before they play league games — and we only have 12 league games. It’s not fair to everybody. If you win, good, but it’s not fair, it’s not right. I said that when we weren’t winning and I’m saying it when we are winning. Teams need to work and get better and find out their identity. To jump into league games right away isn’t right.”